|
Em says that my trip blogs sometimes make it sound like we were having a miserable time. So I offer this quote in apology, then I will go on and tell you some more:
"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
I thought I should post a final blog to close out the vacation series. Last time I blogged was the day before I left for NY. The previous blogs are at:
Here in Denver (well, Longmont)
Tempted with Depression on Vacation
Now in Tennessee
We went to church Sunday morning with the Wests and I packed up & left that afternoon. The drive to NY was about 12 hours, and I had to be there by 5pm Monday, so I decided to do it in 2 days instead of one long day on Monday. It turns out that that was a very good idea, since I got lost on the way.
The first day was pleasant but uneventful. I spent 6 hours or so going up I-81 through the western edge of Virginia, and ended up in Winchester, which is right on the northern tip of the state. I grabbed a couple of hamburgers at McD's (double cheeseburgers were only $1 during our trip...so we ate lots of them!) and then parked at the local WalMart. I went in to get a couple of things for the conference we'd forgotten to take with us, and then listened to a late night football game in the truck as I tried to go to sleep. It's possible to sleep in the back of the Jeep, but just barely; I can't quite stretch out fully (I normally sleep on my back) so I had to roll on my side and curl up just a hair. All in all, though, it wasn't too bad; I slept 8 hours or so and awoke feeling refreshed.
Monday took me through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and on into New York. Well, actually, I had a little trouble getting into New York. I'd been following I-95 up all through New Jersey, and hadn't really paid much attention to when I was supposed to get off it. So I ended up in Jersey City, headed for the Holland Tunnel (which has a toll, like just about everything in the area). I wasn't quite sure where I was, or if I was headed the right direction. So I pulled off at the last exit before the toll to grab a restroom and some food and to look at the map again.
Of course, that exit dumped me right (or very nearly) into downtown Jersey City. No restaurants in sight, no free parking anywhere...and I was starting to get a little desperate for facilities. I finally found a Burger King with a metered parking lot not too far off, so I went in and grabbed a sandwich. I was looking at the map, but frankly I wasn't totally sure where I was, and so I had to ask some locals. They were friendly enough, though, and helped me out; they told me to go through the Tunnel and on into Manhattan.
I did, and it was an interesting (if somewhat frustrating) experience to drive in Manhattan. It's hard to drive there because the streets are poorly engineered and even more poorly marked. Sometimes lanes aren't even marked out; you just try to avoid running into the iron pillars (supporting the overhead railroad) that are put right in the middle of traffic. I couldn't discern much of any sort of traffic laws; cars just kind of milled along in the general direction they were headed, just kind of doing their best not to hit each other. For me, who was raised in the West, where every lane and regulation is clearly marked, it was a stressful experience. But then, the challenge is nice, too. :)
I finally got up through the island, up through Yonkers (watch "Lost in Yonkers" sometime, if you get a chance), and up near where I though I was supposed to be. By then I'd spent almost 3 hours in New York City, and it was getting on toward evening. That's when I realized I was in the wrong place altogether.
Somehow, I'd gotten it in my head that the conference center was near Armonk, NY, which is on the East side of the Hudson, north of Yonkers. I'd looked the center up on the map, and seen that it was on Route 9W...and my map showed a Route 9 near Armonk. So I was headed up Route 9, and not getting anywhere. Finally, I pulled over and rethought it all. Looking at the map, trying to figure out what I was missing, I finally saw another road: Route 9W, on the OTHER SIDE of the Hudson. Yes, folks. Route 9 follows the bank of the Hudson on the East side...Route 9W follows the West bank. I wasn't even supposed to be on the island!
Once I realized that, it was reasonably simple to get to the conference center. I got there just in time for a shower before registration started.
The conference was not much to talk about, really. A lot of technical talks which I found interesting but aren't blog material. I did like the special amenity, though: each room had its own computer! Not only did we have a computer, we were explicitly told that we were allowed to install anything on it we wanted, since the computer would get wiped and reinstalled when we left. So I got to try out some computer game demos - and do a little work on the website - in the evenings, which was fun. Better than watching TV. The coverage of Arnold getting elected was fun for a while, though...
The conference ended Thursday after lunch. Since I was going to take 2 days getting back anyhow, I decided to spend the night in D.C. and then see the sights. But on the way there I was hoping to see downtown Manhattan (my previous drive had just been along the edge of the island), especially ground zero.
Driving in downtown Manhattan is even worse than along the edge. Here, the lanes are marked, but are routinely ignored. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper, door-to-door, except when people are driving half in and half out of a lane to squirm around a cab, bus, delivery van, or whatever. Oddly, though, the traffic actually moves along at a fairly steady 25 mph or so; it's not gridlock like I expected.
I didn't get to stop anywhere because parking was so expensive ($18.25 / half hour), but I got to circle around the WTC site a couple of times. There's not much to see, now, at least from the street; I hadn't heard this, but apparently they've decided how they are going to rebuild and so now the whole place is just a construction zone. Not exactly the quiet place of reflecton I had come expecting.
Anyhow, once I headed out of Manhattan, it was pretty straightforward to get to D.C.; a few hours on toll roads (thankfully, only a few dollars each) dumped me into the area. However, once there I found I had no place to sleep! As I had done before in Virginia, I pulled over at a McD's, bought a burger and coke, and asked for directions to a WalMart. The response had to be the oddest I've ever seen. The cashier got this sort of wistful look, and said "I'd love to have a WalMart, but there aren't any nearby." It was sort of like she thought that WalMart was this magical Disneyland of shopping. Stymied, I left and drove around a bit, thinking if I went someplace with a phone booth I could try looking one up.
I ended up at a gas station, where I asked the attendant the same thing. He (not looking wistful) told me that there were absolutely none in the area - the nearest one was many miles off in Maryland, or central Virginia. I was amazed. There is a place in the US where there are no WalMarts! (Later, I discovered a place in Texas with no McD's, which was even more shocking...) I drove around, lost, and ended up in the parking lot of a church across the Potomac in Virginia. (Fortunately, if anybody noticed me, they didn't call the cops.)
The next morning I cleaned up (in a bathroom at yet another McD's). The weird thing there is that I wasn't the only guy changing clothes and cleaning up in that bathroom; when I arrived, another guy was already doing it. Weird...
Anyhow, I spent the morning in D.C., seeing the sights as best I could, although I didn't have much time. At around 2 or so I took the subway back to my truck and headed home. And I hit Friday afternoon traffic...before Columbus Day weekend. I hate traffic.
I got back to the West's place late (1am or so) and immediately slept. It was nice to finally, after 2 weeks of travel and work, to be able to take days that were really days off. We slept late, ate late, and pretty much never got started before about noon. But we had some nice times up in the mountains of Tennessee, some time at her old college (Milligan), and a day trip to see art galleries in Asheville, North Carolina. Altogether a very pleasant time.
A week after I got back from the conference, we were back on the road. We packed the truck Thursday evening and Friday morning I got up very early. After a quick breakfast and final packing (clothes bags & such) I loaded Em in the truck and we were on the road at about 5am. Like our first day going from Tucson to Albuquerque, Em was able to sleep in the truck for the first several hours, which is a pleasant way to travel. It cuts back on the long hours she experiences sitting in the truck, and I take great pleasure in quietly driving us along.
We arrived in Little Rock that evening, after about 13 hours on the road. (10 driving, 3 stops. We take long stops, and lots of them.) We were able to attend the rehearsal dinner, which was nice, since I got to meet some new people, talk church and postmodernism with them, and generally have a good time.
The wedding was the next afternoon; for me, at least, the day leading up to it was pretty uneventful. (Ask Emily about the bride's brunch, though!) The wedding was fairly traditional but pleasantly short, and so we spent most of the time at the reception. The reception ended early (so the bride & groom could get home), but the parents of the groom (with whom we were staying) hosted a smaller party at their house afterwards. So we watched some baseball and had more discussions about postmodernism. One of Emily's cousin's cousins is a history major at Berkeley, and had read a lot of postmodern philosophers; she had a lot of good thoughts about the pitfalls of that philosophy and how one might form church in this new culture.
The next morning we were back on the road again. It was an a hour and a half from Little Rock to the Texas border, and from there it was a day and a half to New Mexico. Believe people when they tell you Texas is huge...
There's not a lot to say from there on. We scooted through Texas as fast as the speed limit would allow, staying the night in a Motel 6 in Pecos. (The truck won't sleep 2.) Just west of Pecos is a strech of more than a hundred miles without anything - not even a McDonald's. So yes, if you so desire, it is possible to escape them...
From El Paso (the westernmost tip of Texas, and where I-10 crosses into Texas from New Mexico) to Tucson was a quick jaunt. We got in early enough to swing by the Seneca house for a while to catch up, and still get home before dinner. That was Monday; I was back at work on Tuesday, and we were totally unpacked by Tuesday evening. That is a record for us - a great grace from God that He is helping us learn how to be more organized so that preparing for trips, and winding down from them, is less of a chore.
We got home to find the new artwork on our walls (see eric's pictures). We have both been happy and a little surprised to find out that we came home from the vacation well rested. Even with so many miles on the road and so many things to do, God granted us enough days of rest (and enough respite from Emily's struggles) for us to really recharge. We came home not only refreshed, but also ready to head off and do another trip as soon as possible.
Maybe on that one the blogs won't be so long.
Thanks, everybody who read it all the way here. Here's the list of picture collections relative to the trip.
Drive to Denver
A Day in Denver
Drive to Tennessee and NY Trip
Tennessee
Oddball Pics |
